Air Links (Europe)

David Trimble: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what support the Government is providing to facilitate the reintroduction of a direct flight between Northern Ireland and Brussels.

Barry Gardiner: To date an application for support to the Air Route Development Fund for a Brussels route has not been made by any of the Northern Ireland Airports in relation to a Brussels route. The Fund is fully committed at present and consideration of any further new routes must await the outcome of the current review of the Scheme.

Global Point International Business Park

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2005, Official Report, column 1328W, on Global Point International Business Park, for what reasons the first operational company expected to locate at the Business Park is conditional upon completion of the public inquiry into the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan; and when he expects the inquiry to conclude.

Barry Gardiner: The draft Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan (BMAP) has zoned additional lands for employment/industry at Ballyhenry. These lands are identified as a single zoning along with the existing Invest NI Global Point site.
	The weight that the Planning Service would give to the draft BMAP in determining Invest NFs current application for the development of Global Point depends on a number of factors including the representations received by BMAP during the consultation period. Work is on-going on the assessment and collation of all representations received up to the closing date of 25 January 2005.
	Until the impact of BMAP on the current application is determined, Invest NI has had to assume that the Ballyhenry lands will be considered as a single zoning. From liaison with Planning Service it is understood that issues concerning zoning will probably be required to be addressed at public inquiry, hence the response to your earlier question (219688).
	It is too early in the process to give an indication of when a public inquiry will be held to consider representations to the draft BMAP.

Accidents

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what arrangements for monitoring accidents at work involving members of staff of her Department are in place; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: Within the core-Department accident reports are collated centrally by the Departmental Health and Safety Unit. These are investigated by the internal health and safety specialists and the risk assessments relating to that activity form part of the investigation. A formal program of auditing is undertaken in order to spot any accident/ill-health trends and focus risk management arrangements to reduce accidents/incidents.
	Under current policy line managers must investigate each incident in relation to the effectiveness of their health and safety procedures and monitor all such reports in relation to their local risk assessment program.
	Defra agencies have equivalent accident reporting procedures and monitoring arrangements in compliance with the Defra Safety Policy.

Carbon Emissions (National Allocation Plan)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria she used in making the decision that 736 million tonnes of carbon emissions was appropriate for the National Allocation Plan; for what reasons steps were taken to increase the amount to 756 million tonnes; and what assessment she has made of the impact of not achieving the increase.

Elliot Morley: The provisional total of 736 million tonnes included in the UK's National Allocation Plan was calculated by estimating the projected emissions from the sectors covered by the EU ETS and subtracting the additional savings of 5.5 MtCO 2 which the Government decided the EU ETS would deliver. This calculation was based on provisional emission projections and this was made clear when submitting the UK's National Allocation Plan (NAP) to the European Commission in April 2004.
	Following the finalisation of emissions projections and Climate Change Agreement targets UK emissions for the period 2005–07 are now estimated to be around 56 MtCO 2 higher than in April last year. These latest projections are more consistent with recent historic emissions levels.
	Rather than increase the total by that amount, the UK proposed to increase the total number of allowances by around 20 million to 756 million, which ensures that the UK strikes a balance between the concerns of business about potential competitiveness impacts and the UK's leadership on climate change. However, the Commission has made it clear that it does not consider that the provisional total of 736 million allowances can be exceeded and is not prepared to consider any increase.
	On 11 March the Government announced its intention to issue allowances in line with the NAP approved by the Commission (736 million) as soon as possible to allow operators to fully participate in the EU ETS, while initiating legal proceedings against the Commission, seeking to require the Commission to consider the substance of the amendment.
	In accordance with earlier announcements, the additional reduction will be taken from the electricity supply industry. As this industry is more insulated from international competition than others, this approach will have less of an impact on UK competitiveness than reducing the allocation to other industries. The Government does not expect this approach will have a material impact on electricity prices which will reflect the price of allowances in the EU-wide market, rather than the number of allowances allocated free to generators. In the event of a successful challenge, the additional allowances would be distributed between the installations in the Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) sector.

Environment Campaigns

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the national environment campaigns promoted by the Government since 1997; and what the (a) resource costs, (b) capital expenditure costs and (c) staffing costs were of each at today's prices.

Alun Michael: The information is as follows.
	
		Waste and resources action programme(1)
		
			 £000 
			  Expenditure Expenditure at 2004–05 prices 
		
		
			 1997–98 — — 
			 1998–99 — — 
			 1999–2000 — — 
			 2000–01 — — 
			 2001–02 — — 
			 2002–03 — — 
			 2003–04 (2)517 528 
			 2004–05 3, 4, 55,431 54 
		
	
	(1) The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is funded by Defra, the Devolved Administrations, and currently the DTI. WRAP was formed in 2000 and began work 2001. Figures supplied by WRAP.
	(2) Staff numbers 2 (rounded estimate), staff cost £55,000.
	(3) Staff numbers 4.5, staff cost £115,000.
	(4) WRAP have committed a total of 10 million to a national campaign"Recycle Now" over the three year period 2003–06.
	(5) Full year estimate.
	
		ENCAMS
		
			 £000 
			  Expenditure Expenditure at 2004–05 prices 
		
		
			 1997–98 3,997 4,734 
			 1998–99 3,697 4,256 
			 1999–2000 3,762 4,238 
			 2000–01 3,542 3,944 
			 2001–02 3,762 4,085 
			 2002–03 (6)3.597 3,777 
			 2003–04 3,574 3,650 
			 2004–05 (7)4,542 4,542 
		
	
	(6) In addition to this expenditure Defra allocated an additional £1 million to local authorities through ENCAMS for the Local Environmental Quality Pathfinder Programme that forged partnerships between local authorities and the local community. Some of the projects developed reduced fast food litter, railway land litter and schools litter.
	(7) Encams baseline grant was increased by £1 million in 2004–05, and is being increased by a further £1 million in 2005–06.
	Government funding is provided to ENCAMS (formerly Tidy Britain Group) annually. This funding supports ENCAMS work on a range of local environmental quality issues, including programmes to discourage littering.
	Staff and resource figures are not available
	
		Carbon Trust
		
			 £000 
			  Expenditure Expenditure at 2004–05 prices 
		
		
			 1997–98 — — 
			 1998–99 — — 
			 1999–2000 — — 
			 2000–01 — — 
			 2001–02 — — 
			 2002–03 1,2700 735 
			 2003–04 3,300 3,371 
			 2004–05 3,600 3,600 
		
	
	(8) The Carbon Trust was formed in 2001–02 but did not begin marketing activity until 2002–03. Figure for 2002–03 is total marketing expenditure. Figures for 2003–04 and 2004–05 represent expenditure on awareness campaigns.
	(9) Figures for resource breakdown not available as Carbon Trust do not distinguish between these categories in the funding information they provide to Defra.
	In addition to Government environmental promotions, the Carbon Trust, an independent company funded by Defra, spent the following on marketing campaigns targeted at business and the public sector.
	
		Energy Saving Trust
		
			 £000 
			  Expenditure Expenditure at 2004–05 prices 
		
		
			 1997–98 (10)3,31 3 3,924 
			
			 1998–99 3,532 4,066 
			
			 1999–2000 3,726 4,198 
			
			 2000–01 4,208 4,687 
			
			 2001–02 6,542 7,105 
			 Staff (488) (530) 
			 Resource (6,054) (6,575) 
			
			 2002–03 5,742 6,029 
			 Staff (487) (511) 
			 Resource (5,255) (5,519) 
			
			 2003–04 6,038 6,167 
			 Staff (560) (572) 
			 Resource (5,478) (5,595) 
			
			 2004–05 (11)8,511 8,511 
			 Staff (600) (600) 
			 Resource (7,901) (7,901) 
		
	
	(10) Figures for 1997–98 to 2000–01 inclusive show advertising expenditure only and include a small amount of Scottish Executive support.
	(11) Figure for 2004–05 also includes a separate campaign to promote energy efficiency in the run-up to the start of the Energy Efficiency Commitment for 2005–08.
	In addition to Government environmental promotions, the Energy Saving Trust, an independent company funded by Defra, spent the following on its "Energy Efficiency" Consumer Marketing Campaign.
	
		DETR/Defra:Are you doing you bit? campaign
		
			 £000 
			  Expenditure Expenditure at 2004–05 prices 
		
		
			 1997–98 0 0 
			 1998–99 3,809 4,385 
			 1999–2000 7,666 8,637 
			 2000–01 9,976 11,110 
			 2001–02 525 570 
			 2002–03 (12)0 0 
			 2003–04 0 0 
		
	
	(12) This campaign served to raise public awareness and to encourage individual action to help the environment. However, in the absence of an underpinning legal requirement, it was considered to be of lower priority than the Department's other environmental programmes which bodies such as the Energy Savings Trust and NGOs will deliver. Winding down the campaign will help deliver savings of £3.4 million pa from 2005–06 onwards.
	Staff and resource figures are not available.
	All expenditure at 2004–05 prices has been calculated using the GDP deflator tables from HM Treasury.Since similar questions were answered there have been changes in accounting practices which have given rise to variations in some of the figures given in this answer.

Plastic Waste

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government is taking to encourage (a) retailers and (b) manufacturers to reduce the amount of plastic waste produced in the UK.

Elliot Morley: The Government is taking a number of measures to reduce the amount of waste produced, including plastic waste.
	The Government-funded Envirowise programme offers UK businesses free advice and support on practical ways to minimise their waste and reduce their environmental impact.
	Additional revenue generated from increases to the landfill tax will be redistributed to business through the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) programme to encourage and support resource efficiency, waste minimisation and diversion of waste away from landfill.
	As part of their Retailer Initiative, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) are working with retailers to reduce waste from supermarkets. Part of this work is looking at design issues around packaging and the scope for reduction.
	There are two sets of regulations that encourage producers and retailers to minimise packaging. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended) are intended to increase the recovery and recycling of packaging waste and incorporate a cost incentive to reduce the overall amount of packaging. The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003 place a number of requirements on all packaging placed on the market in the UK, including a requirement that packaging should be manufactured so that the packaging volume and weight are limited to the minimum adequate amount to maintain the necessary level of safety, hygiene and acceptance for the packed product and for the consumer.

Single Farm Payment

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what impact she expects the delay in the single farm payment to have on smaller farmers.

Alun Michael: The Rural Payments Agency has announced that it expect to begin payments under the single payment scheme in February 2006, well before the deadline of 30 June 2006 set in EU legislation. To the extent that farmers have made plans based on receiving a payment earlier, they may face cash-flow problems. Whether that happens in practice depends very much on the individual circumstances of the farm business rather than its size.

Timber

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of whether Denmark's inclusion of social criteria in its policy for timber procurement complies with the requirements of the European Forestry Certification Scheme; and if she will make a statement on the implications for inclusion of social criteria in UK policy.

Elliot Morley: The UK Government accepts that social criteria is complementary to environmental and economic criteria in the context of sustainable forest management and that international guidelines, including the Pan European Operational Level Guidelines, recognise this principle. The UK Government timber procurement policy has been devised so that one outcome will be the enhancement of forest dependent peoples' well being through an increase in the amount of legal timber and timber from well managed forests being supplied.
	European procurement directives require public sector contracting authorities to limit their contract specifications to criteria that are relevant to the product or service being purchased. The UK Government believe that forest dependent people play a part in sustaining forest health and vitality. However, as far as the procurement directives are concerned, their well being does not appear to be sufficiently relevant to the subject matter of contracts to warrant inclusion as contract specification criteria. The UK's interpretation of the directives is based on legal advice and on advice from officials responsible for procurement policy. It would appear that a different view is taken by Denmark. However if it were ever to be established beyond reasonable doubt that the well being of forest dependent people could feasibly be included as a requirement in public sector contracts then the UK Government would reconsider its position.

Water Quality/Supply

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will take steps to ensure that increases in water charges are used to (a) improve (i) reliability of supply and (ii) water quality and (b) reduce (A) sewer flooding and (B) pesticide run-off.

Elliot Morley: Water companies may increase their charges only within the price limits set by Ofwat. Ofwat's approach to setting price limits is to allow no more than is necessary for efficient companies to finance their functions. In co-operation with the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, Ofwat monitor companies' delivery of their functions and levels of service and takes regulatory action where their performance falls short.
	In the period covered by new price limits, 2005 to 2010, companies will be undertaking a range of measures in order to meet their water supply duties. Companies will, for example, take measures to increase the security of supply where supply is most at risk, including measures to reduce leakage. They will be making improvements to water treatment works to continue to meet the standards of drinking water quality, as well as improving the taste, colour and odour of drinking water in areas where this has been an issue of local concern. They are also expected to reduce the number of homes at risk from sewer flooding so that by 2010 no more than 0.01 per cent. of properties will be at risk of internal flooding from overloaded sewers at least once every 10 years.
	The reduction of pesticide run-off is the responsibility of the farmers and growers who apply the pesticides to their crops not the water companies. The Government encourages farmers and growers through advice and Codes of Practice to minimise their use of pesticides to avoid the risk of run-off to surface waters.

General Election

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will invite international observers to assess whether the forthcoming general election is fair.

Christopher Leslie: As a participating member of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, we would normally invite its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to send election observers to any elections held in the UK. I fully expect us to repeat our previous practice of doing so once the date for the next general election is announced.

Human Rights Act (Gibraltar)

Robert Key: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether his Department treats the Human Rights Act 1998 as applying to (a) residents of Gibraltar and (b) locally employed Ministry of Defence employees in Gibraltar.

David Lammy: No.

Car Clubs

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding has been provided for car clubs in each financial year since 1997–98; what the projected funding to 2006–07 is; and if he will make a statement.

Charlotte Atkins: In 1999, the Department contributed setting up costs of £150,000 to establish the Edinburgh City Car Club.
	The Department has also been supporting the CarPlus car club advisory service with the following annual grants:
	
		£
		
			  Annual grant 
		
		
			 1999 37,000 
			 2000 38,000 
			 2001 103,000 
			 2002 53,000 
			 2003 60,000 
			 2004 60,000 
		
	
	CarPlus have requested further funding for 2005–06. This is currently under consideration.

Violent Attacks (Leicester)

Parmjit Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many violent attacks there have been against (a) staff on Leicester buses, (b) staff employed at Leicester Railway Station and (c) Leicestershire's traffic police in each year since 1997.

Tony McNulty: The information is as follows:
	(a) Data on bus staff assaults is only recorded at a national level for England and separately for London.
	(b) The BTP have provided the following data concerning attacks against staff employed at Leicester Railway Station. The data is shown by performance year 1 April-31 March since 1998. Due to the significant changes in the way that crime was recorded due to new Home Office Counting Rules on 1 April 1998, the BTP have informed me that there is no comparable data for 1997:
	
		
			 Offence 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Actual Bodily Harm 2 1 0 2 1 0 
			 Causing Racially Aggravated Harassment, Alarm or Distress 0 0 0 1 1 0 
			 Common Assault 3 6 1 1 3 7 
			 Total 5 7 1 4 5 7 
		
	
	(c) The Department does not collect data on attacks on traffic police, who are part of local authority police forces.

Stamp Duty

Sue Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many properties in England and Wales on which stamp duty was levied at a rate of one per cent. were sold at between £60,000 and £120,000 in each year since 2000; and how many of these properties were sold to first time buyers in each year.

Stephen Timms: Estimates of the number of residential properties selling for between £60,001 and £120,000 in England and Wales, on which stamp duty was levied at 1 per cent. are given in the following table for 2000 to 2003 inclusive. Estimates for 2004 will be available later in the year.
	It is not possible to provide this information for first time buyers.
	
		Thousand
		
			  Estimated number of residential properties sold for between £60,001 and £120,000 
		
		
			 2000 430 
			 2001 447 
			 2002 453 
			 2003 338

Tax Credits

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how his Department plans to ensure that those who are entitled to claim tax credit are informed of their eligibility.

Dawn Primarolo: Around 6 million families are benefiting from tax credits. The Inland Revenue encourage people to claim tax credits and they maintain awareness of tax credits through a range of advertising and publicity activities. In particular, information about tax credits is included in the "Bounty Bags" that new mothers receive. And there is an ongoing advertising campaign designed specifically to encourage claims from ethnic minority communities is another priority, using local radio and advertising in the ethnic press and magazines and appropriate intermediary organisations through in-community work.
	All our advertising campaigns, whether aimed at encouraging early renewal of awards, or about reporting changes of circumstances serve to maintain awareness of tax credits generally—research shows 95 per cent. awareness—and experience has shown that such campaigns do prompt people to make inquiries to the Tax Credits Helpline.

Affordable Homes

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many affordable homes he plans to deliver (a) over the forthcoming spending review period and (b) in each year after the end of that period; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: The funding provided in the Spending Review will, along with efficiency improvements, produce 75,000 social rented homes and 40,000 homes for low cost home ownership (including essential public sector workers) over the three years to 2007–08.
	In addition, "Sustainable Communities: Homes for All" sets out the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's plans to deliver more affordable housing over the five years to 2009–10. Measures include assisting over 80,000 first time buyers and keyworkers to achieve their home ownership aspirations.
	The delivery of outputs from 2008–09 will be dependent upon the outcome of the next Spending Review in 2006.

Community Wardens

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the local authorities that have received central government funding for community and neighbourhood wardens since 1997; for how long that funding was allocated; and which local authorities which have received it no longer receive such central funding.

Yvette Cooper: The Government have funded three rounds of warden pilot schemes. The information is in the following table. Funding for the first round of warden pilots began in 2000–01, with rounds two and three starting in 2001–02 and 2002–03 respectively. Funding for the first round of warden pilots ended in March 2004, funding for the second round will end in March this year and funding for the third round will end in March 2006. Of the 84 round 1, neighbourhood warden schemes, 70 (83 per cent.) have been sustained after the end of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's funding and continue to operate as successful warden schemes. For the 122 round 2, street warden schemes, the majority already have future funding agreed although in some areas decisions have yet to be taken. Guidance has been issued to all round 2 street warden schemes whose funding ends in March 2005. This includes information on how other schemes achieved continued funding, a list of funding sources and guidance for schemes on how they can contribute to Government floor targets. Sustainability events have been organised regionally by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's funded warden resource centres. Letters of support from senior officials in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and visits from trained consultants are also available to schemes who are seeking future funding. In addition at least 150 more warden schemes have been set up by LAs, RSLs on other bodies without pilot funding.
	QDPM Funded Warden Schemes led by local authorities.
	
		QDPM funded warden schemes led by local authorities
		
			 Local authority Funding round 1 Funding round 2 Funding round 3 Total number of schemes 
		
		
			 Allerdale DC 1 0 0 1 
			 Amber Valley BC 0 1 0 1 
			 Avon and Somerset DC 0 1 0 1 
			 Barnsley MBC 1 1 0 2 
			 Bedford BC 0 1 0 1 
			 Birmingham city council 2 2 1 5 
			 Blackpool DC 0 0 1 1 
			 Bolton MBC 1 0 0 1 
			 Boston BC 1 0 0 1 
			 Bradford CC 0 1 1 2 
			 Bristol CC 0 2 2 4 
			 Burnley BC 1 1 0 2 
			 Bury MBC 1 1 0 2 
			 Caerphilly CC 1 0 0 1 
			 Calderdale CC 0 1 0 1 
			 Cambridge CC 0 1 0 1 
			 Cannock Chase DC 0 1 0 1 
			 Canterbury CC 1 0 0 1 
			 Charnwood BC 0 1 0 1 
			 Cherwell DC 0 1 0 1 
			 Chester CC 0 1 0 1 
			 City of Cardiff 1 0 0 1 
			 City of Swansea 1 0 0 1 
			 Colchester BC 0 1 0 1 
			 Congleton BC 0 1 0 1 
			 Cornwall MBC 0 1 0 1 
			 Coventry city council 1 0 1 2 
			 Dacorum BC 1 0 0 1 
			 Darlington CC 1 0 0 1 
			 Dartford BC 0 1 0 1 
			 Derby BC 1 0 0 1 
			 Derwent and Solway MBC 0 1 0 1 
			 District of Bolsover 0 1 0 1 
			 Doncaster MBC 1 1 0 2 
			 Easington DC 0 1 0 1 
			 Eastbourne BC 0 1 0 1 
			 Exeter CC 1 0 0 1 
			 Gateshead MBC 1 1 0 2 
			 Gosport BC 1 0 0 1 
			 Great Yarmouth CC 0 1 0 1 
			 Guildford BC 1 1 0 2 
			 Gwynedd CC 1 0 0 1 
			 Hastings B.C. 1 1 0 2 
			 Horsham DC 1 0 0 1 
			 Hull city council 1 0 0 1 
			 Huntingdonshire DC 1 1 0 2 
			 Ipswich BC 0 1 0 1 
			 Kerrier CC 1 0 0 1 
			 Kirklees BC 1 1 0 2 
			 Knowle West MBC 0 1 0 1 
			 Knowsley BC 1 0 0 1 
			 Lancaster city council 0 1 0 1 
			 LB Barking and Dagenham 0 1 0 1 
			 LB Barnet 1 1 0 2 
			 LB Basildon 0 1 0 1 
			 LB Brent 0 0 1 1 
			 LB Camden 0 1 1 2 
			 LB Croydon 0 0 1 1 
			 LB Ealing 0 0 1 1 
			 LB Greenwich 0 1 0 1 
			 LB Hackney 1 0 0 1 
			 LB Hackney 0 0 1 1 
			 LB Hammersmith and Fulham 0 1 0 1 
			 LB Haringey 0 0 1 1 
			 LB Harrow 0 1 0 1 
			 LB Hounslow 1 0 0 1 
			 LB Islington 1 0 1 2 
			 LB Lewisham 1 1 1 3 
			 LB Merton 1 1 0 2 
			 LB Newham 0 0 1 1 
			 LB Redbridge 0 1 0 1 
			 LB Southwark 1 1 1 3 
			 LB Streatham 0 0 1 1 
			 LB Tower Hamlets 1 1 1 3 
			 LB Walthamstow 0 0 1 1 
			 LB Wandsworth 0 1 1 2 
			 LB Westminster 0 0 1 1 
			 LB Havering 1 0 0 1 
			 LB Hillingdon 1 0 0 1 
			 Leeds city council 1 l 1 3 
			 Leicester city council 1 0 0 1 
			 Lincolnshire DC 0 1 0 1 
			 Liverpool city council 2 0 1 3 
			 Luton BC 0 1 0 1 
			 Macclesfield DC 1 0 0 1 
			 Malvern Hills DC 0 1 0 1 
			 Manchester MBC 4 0 1 5 
			 Mansfield DC 0 1 0 1 
			 Merthyr Tydfil county BC 1 0 0 1 
			 Middlesbrough BC 1 1 0 2 
			 Milton Keynes council 1 0 1 2 
			 Newark and Sherwood DC 0 1 0 1 
			 Newcastle CC 0 1 0 1 
			 North Tyneside DC 1 0 0 1 
			 Northumberland CC 2 1 0 3 
			 Norwich city council 1 1 0 2 
			 Nottingham city council 1 1 1 3 
			 Oldham BC 1 0 0 1 
			 Oxford DC 0 0 1 1 
			 Peterborough BC 0 1 0 1 
			 Portsmouth city council 1 0 0 1 
			 Preston DC 0 1 1 2 
			 Reading BC 0 1 1 2 
			 Redcar and Cleveland DC 0 1 0 1 
			 Rotherham BC 1 1 0 2 
			 Royal Borough of Kingston 0 1 0 1 
			 Salford city council 1 1 1 3 
			 Sandwell MBC 0 2 0 2 
			 Sedgefield DC 1 0 0 1 
			 Sevenoaks DC 0 1 0 1 
			 Sheffield CC 2 1 1 4 
			 Slough BC 1 1 1 3 
			 Solihull MBC 0 1 0 1 
			 South Gloucestershire CC 1 0 0 1 
			 South Kesteven CC 0 1 0 1 
			 South Manchester 0 0 1 1 
			 South Tyneside council 1 1 0 2 
			 Spelthorne MBC 0 1 0 1 
			 Stevenage borough council 1 0 0 1 
			 Stockport MBC 0 1 1 2 
			 Stockton DC 1 1 0 2 
			 Stoke on Trent city council 1 0 0 1 
			 Sunderland BC 1 0 0 1 
			 Sutton DC 1 0 0 1 
			 Swindon BC 0 1 0 1 
			 Tameside MBC 0 1 0 1 
			 Tamworth BC 0 1 0 1 
			 Test Valley BC 0 1 0 1 
			 Thanet CC 0 1 0 1 
			 Thurrock council 0 1 0 1 
			 Torbay CC 0 1 0 1 
			 Trafford MBC 2 1 1 4 
			 Vale of White Horse DC 1 0 0 1 
			 Vale Royal BC 0 1 0 1 
			 Wakefield DC 1 0 0 1 
			 Walsall MBC 1 1 1 3 
			 Wealdon DC 0 1 0 1 
			 Wear Valley DC 0 1 0 1 
			 Welwyn Hatfield DC 0 1 0 1 
			 West Bromwich BC 0 0 1 1 
			 West Lancashire DC 1 0 0 1 
			 Wigan BC 1 0 0 1 
			 Wirral DC 1 0 0 1 
			 Wolverhampton MBC 1 0 1 2 
			 Wyre Forest DC 2 0 0 2 
			 Total 82 90 38 210

Council House Repairs

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department met its target to reduce the council house repairs backlog by at least 900,000 properties by April 2004; if he will set a new target further to reduce the council house repairs backlog; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: Repairs to council housing are now covered by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's target to ensure that all social sector homes reach the decent homes standard by 2010. By reducing the number of non decent homes we are also reducing the repairs backlog.

Gypsies and Travellers

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reasons Brentwood borough council has been directed to draw up a Gypsy and Traveller development plan document.

Yvette Cooper: The reason for the First Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister being minded to direct Brentwood borough council to prepare an additional development plan document is set out in a letter of 7 March from the Government Office for the East of England, a copy of which has been made available in the Library of the House.

Non-decent Homes Target

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department achieved its target of cutting the number of non-decent homes by a third over the 2001 baseline by December 2004.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's 2004 Autumn Performance report, published in December, provides a comprehensive update on progress against the decent homes public service agreement (PSA) target, and is available on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website, at: www.odpm. gov.uk.

Parking (Medical Centres)

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will re-examine the planning guidelines relating to parking requirements at primary care medical centres.

Keith Hill: Government planning policies on parking are laid down in Planning Policy Guidance note (PPG) 13 Transport. We want to promote accessibility, the use of public transport, walking and cycling and to reduce the need to travel, especially by private car. The availability of parking is an important factor in people's transport choices. So we encourage local authorities to develop and implement policies on parking that, as part of a package of planning and transport measures, ensure levels of parking provided in association with development will promote sustainable transport choices. There should be no minimum standards for development, other than parking for disabled people, and policies in development plans should set maximum levels of parking for broad classes of development.
	PPG13 sets national maximum standards at Annex D for certain classes of use, and local authorities should follow these unless the applicant has demonstrated that a higher level of parking is needed. Primary care centres are not one of the uses where the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has set specific standards but officials have been asked to keep this under review for any future guidance that might be issued.

Social Housing

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 25 February 2005, Official Report, column 902W, on social housing (right to buy), for what reasons his Department estimates that receipts from right to buy sales will decline between 2003–04 and 2007–08.

Keith Hill: The Government's announcement in January 2003 that it intended to modify the right to buy scheme led initially to higher sales. It expects sales to revert to longer-term trend levels over the next few years.

Early Release Schemes

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the earliest possible release time is of a prisoner convicted of a standard list offence, assuming eligibility for all of the early release schemes, having been sentenced to (a) four months', (b) six months', (c) 10 months', (d) 12 months', (e) 18 months', (f) 24 months', (g) four years', (h) six years' and (i) eight years' detention.

Paul Goggins: Under the provisions contained in Section 34A of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, eligible prisoners serving sentences of between three months and under four years may be considered for release under the Home Detention Curfew Scheme (HOC). The time the prisoner will spend under curfew is tapered according to the length of sentence. Prisoners must serve a quarter of the sentence in custody subject to a minimum of 30 days before they can be released on HOC. The earliest release dates for eligible prisoners is set out in the following table.
	
		
			 Sentence length Earliest possible point of release 
		
		
			 4 months After having served 30 days in custody 
			 6 months After having served 1 ½ months in custody 
			 10 months After having served 2 ½ months in custody 
			 12 months After having served 3 months in custody 
			 18 months 135 days before the halfway point of sentence 
			 24 months 135 days before the halfway

Immigration

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who the members of the senior management of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate are.

Des Browne: I refer my hon. Friend to the Home Office website, where this information is available. It can be found on http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en/home/about us/organisational structure.html?

Anti-corruption

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what changes there have been in the rules in respect of bribery and corruption in contracts involving UK businesses in recent months; and if she will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: ECGD introduced new anti-bribery and corruption procedures in May 2004. Revised procedures came into force on 1 December 2004, which took account of concerns expressed by customers and their representative trade associations about the workability of some aspects of the procedures.
	On 18 March 2005, the Export Credits Guarantee Department launched on consultation on the changes to its anti-bribery and corruption procedures introduced in
	December 2004. Details of this can be found on its website at www.ecgd.gov.uk

Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline

Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether breaches of the World Bank's involuntary resettlement policy (OD 4.30) constitute breaches of the project agreements for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

Douglas Alexander: A breach of the World Bank involuntary resettlement policy (OD 4.30) would represent a breach of the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) loan agreement for the project if it were considered to have a material effect on the project. Breaches not rectified within a reasonable period, in accordance with the project's Environment and Social Action Plan and the ECGD loan agreement, would constitute an incident for which an event of default could be called.
	A Social and Resettlement Action Plan (SRAP) Monitoring Panel, made up of international resettlement and social development experts, has been monitoring the implementation of the Resettlement Action Plan, including the expropriation of land for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project. The SRAP panel's reports are sent to the lender group and are also published on the project website at: www.caspiandeve lopmentandexport.com.

Clothing Exports (Tariffs)

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the total revenue from tariffs imposed on clothing exports from developing countries in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by country.

Douglas Alexander: None.
	The date required to make an accurate estimate of tariff revenues collected by the European Community are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many small and medium-sized enterprises were established (a) between 1997 and 2001 and (b) since 2001.

Nigel Griffiths: Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were 453,000 business start-ups in England and Wales in 2004, the highest since the survey began in 1998.
	Barclays data show that there were 1,554,000 business start-ups in total in England and Wales in the years 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 combined. There were 1,606,000 business start-ups in total in England and Wales in the years 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 combined.
	DTI figures show there were 728,755 VAT registrations in total in the UK in the years 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 combined. There were 534,035 VAT registrations in total the UK in the years 2001, 2002 and 2003 combined. Data for 2004 will be available in autumn 2005.
	Data on VAT registrations are available in the publication "Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2003", available from the Library of the House and also at http://www.sbs.gov.uk/analytical/statistics/vatstats.php.
	VAT registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Only 1.8 million out of 4 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2003.
	Both Barclays and VAT registration data include enterprises of all sizes. However, 99.8 per cent. of enterprises are small or medium-sized.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the contribution made by small and medium-sized enterprises to the UK economy, with particular reference to the level of exports; and what steps her Department takes to assist small and medium-sized enterprises which rely on exports.

Nigel Griffiths: The business success of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) underpins our national prosperity. At the start of 2003, the 4 million SMEs in the UK represented 99.8 per cent. of all businesses and contributed some 52.4 per cent. of all private sector turnover (excluding finance sector). Some 16 per cent. of UK SMEs are exporters. Through their international trade activity, these SMEs help to strengthen the existing drivers of UK productivity—innovation and competition; thus contributing to the UK's overall competitiveness.
	Through UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), the Government delivers a range of support services to help SMEs win business overseas. Details of the assistance available is set out on UKTI's corporate website www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk.

UK Trade and Investment

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will announce the proposed changes to (a) the structure and staffing and (b) the focus of UK Trade and Investment; when these changes are to take effect; and if she will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The structure and staffing of the organisation has to be determined in the light of UKTI's future strategy and its focus, as set out in UKTI's Corporate Plan 2004–07, and the financial and manpower resources available following the SR2004 settlement.
	UK Trade and Investment's future strategy is set out in its Corporate Plan 2004–07, available at www.uktra deinvest.gov.uk<http://www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk>. Details of the settlement are set out in the Efficiency Technical Note for UK Trade and Investment, also available at www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk<http://www. uktradeinvest.gov.uk>

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what political progress in Burma would be required to enable the UK Government to attend EU-ASEAN meetings chaired by Burma in 2006–07.

Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Vera Baird) on 22 March 2005, Official Report, columns 797–98W.

China

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of China's anti-secession law; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: Anti-secession legislation, passed by China's National People's Congress, on 14 March, is largely a codification of China's long-held position regarding Taiwan. The impact of the legislation will depend on the reaction of others and how China seeks to apply it.
	Although China has stressed its desire for a peaceful resolution of the issue, we are concerned that the legislation makes reference to the possibility of the use of "non-peaceful means". We are strongly opposed to the use of force.
	We and others in the international community remain concerned about regional stability. We continue to appeal to both sides to avoid unilateral measures which might heighten tensions.
	Our view is still that the Taiwan question should be settled peacefully through negotiation between the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. We believe that the continuation of dialogue over practical measures and the search for pragmatic solutions to differences will bring benefits to both sides and contribute towards a peaceful resolution of the issue.

Diplomatic Posts

John Wilkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British diplomatic posts were (a) gained and (b) lost during calendar year 2004 to the personnel establishments of UK Missions in (i) Council of Europe member states including international bodies of which the UK is a member located in Europe, (ii) Africa and (iii) Latin America including Belize and the Dominican Republic.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 24 February 2005
	The introduction of a new IT system means that information is not available from the start of calendar year 2004. New data from this system is also not completely comparable with the previous arrangement.
	Subject to this caveat, the changes in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's personnel establishments between October 2003 and December 2004 in the areas in question were as follows:
	(i) Council of Europe member states including international bodies of which the UK is a member located in Europe. Plus 25.
	(ii) Africa. Plus 67.
	(iii) Latin America including Belize and the Dominican republic. Plus 8.

European Union

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals have been made, and by whom, for a change of name of European Union (a) regulations and (b) directives; what the policy of the Government are on the proposals; what consultations the Government have undertaken on those proposals; and by what procedure such a change would be made.

Denis MacShane: These proposals are to be found in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe which the Government supports and has put forward for consideration by both Houses of Parliament. Specifically, Article I-33 of the Constitutional Treaty, which describes the legal acts of the Union, provides for (among other things) European laws and European framework laws. The definition of a "European law" in Article I-33 corresponds closely to the definition of a "regulation" in the existing Article 249 TEC and the definition of a "European framework law" in Article I-33 corresponds to the definition of a "directive" in Article 249. Further detail on these points is set out in Command Paper 6459, page 32—the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Commentary on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.

General Affairs and External Relations Council

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the outcome was of the General Affairs and External Relations Council held on 16 March; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including their voting record; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The information is as follows:
	Outcome of the 16 March 2005 General Affairs and External Relations Council
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and John Grant (UK Permanent Representative to the EU) represented the UK at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) in Brussels on 16 March 2005.
	Conclusions were agreed on the Middle East, Human Rights—Preparation for the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Lebanon, Croatia, and Iran.
	General Affairs Session
	Preparations for the European Council—22–23 March, Brussels
	The Council discussed the revised European Council Conclusions. Member states raised the importance of the Lisbon Strategy and the importance of growth and employment. UK and a number of other member states underlined the importance of further developing the EU's medium and long-term strategy to tackle climate change. Language was also agreed on better regulation and administrative burdens. Overall, member states thought that the text represented a good balance. The Government agree.
	Enlargement—Croatia
	The Council referred to the Conclusions reached by the European Council in June 2004 confirming Croatia as a candidate for membership as well as further Conclusions reached in December 2004. The Council reaffirmed the EU's commitment to the accession of Croatia and referred to the importance of full cooperation with the ICTY on the part of all Western Balkans countries as an essential requirement for closer relations with the EU. After deliberation by the Council it was agreed that the opening of accession negotiations should be postponed. Conclusions were accordingly agreed reiterating the importance of Croatia cooperating fully with ICTY, and confirming that negotiations would open as soon as the Council had established that Croatia was so doing. The Government underlined their desire to see Croatia as a full member of the EU as soon as possible but reiterated that this could only happen when there was full cooperation with the ICTY.
	Future financing 2007–13
	The presidency presented its so-called "negotiating box" for future financing—essentially a list of issues up for negotiation in the form of possible June European Council Conclusions. The presidency did not invite comments. The Government's position on future financing remains that the Commission's proposals for real term spending increases of 35 per cent. from 2007 to 2013 are unrealistic and unacceptable. We, along with France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden, believe that the priorities of an enlarged Union can be met within a budget of 1 per cent. EU GNI. This is sufficient to meet the challenge of cohesion provided that resources are focused on priorities—namely the poorest member states.
	External Relations Session
	Middle East
	Over lunch the Foreign Secretary briefed Partners on the outcome of the London Meeting and thanked them for their support. There was agreement on the need for continued EU engagement. Ministers then turned to the situation in Lebanon, reaffirming their strong support for a sovereign, independent and democratic Lebanon. They welcomed the commitment to these values shown by the people of Lebanon. They highlighted the importance for the EU that the forthcoming legislative elections in Lebanon be held in accordance with a free and fair electoral process based on the Lebanese constitution, free from foreign interference. The EU will closely monitor the electoral process and be ready to provide assistance. This may, if invited, include sending an election observation mission. Ministers agreed Council Conclusions calling for a full and immediate implementation of UNSCR 1559, the withdrawal of Syrian intelligence services, and the importance of free and fair elections.
	Iran
	High Representative Javier Solana updated the Council on the state of play of negotiations with Iran on its nuclear programme undertaken by France, Germany and the UK (the 'E3'), plus the Council Secretariat. Ministers exchanged views on the negotiations. They expressed their support for the E3's approach, welcoming the support from the international community and the announcement by the United States on 11 March that it would actively support these negotiations.
	Russia
	The presidency underlined its commitment to conclude agreement on the Four Common Spaces as a package at the EU-Russia Summit on 10 May and drew to Ministers' attention the remaining issues. A number of member states raised the OSCE Border Monitoring Operation on the Georgia/Russia border and the EU's response to the blocking of its mandate. The Government welcome the progress made on the Four Common Spaces and supports the presidency in their efforts to reach an agreement.
	Generalised System of Preferences (GSP)
	The presidency emphasised the importance of reaching agreement on the new GSP scheme to meet the commitment made by the Council and the Commission to countries affected by the Asian tsunami to bring it into force on 1 April. Ministers discussed the two outstanding problems, which were the graduation threshold for textiles and clothing and the granting of "GSP plus" to El Salvador. Member states reiterated their positions on the graduation threshold for textiles. The Government had pushed for the same threshold across all sectors, but were willing to compromise and supported the Commission proposal in order to reach agreement in time for the 1 April deadline. However, member states arguing for a lower threshold were unwilling to compromise. The Council was unable to approve the new GSP regime. The Government will continue to work to ensure that a new GSP is agreed at the earliest opportunity.
	European Neighbourhood Policy
	The European Commission presented European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) Country Reports on Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Egypt and Lebanon. There was no discussion. The Government welcome the timely preparation of the Country Reports and supports the inclusion of all of these countries in the ENP. The Government believe the ENP will provide a useful tool to encourage reform in all five countries, and progress on conflict resolution in the South Caucasus. We therefore support the recommendation in the Country Reports that Action Plans should be prepared for all five countries.
	Sudan
	The Council exchanged views on the situation in Sudan, especially on the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the conflict in Darfur. The Council expressed the hope that the negotiations underway in the UN Security Council would lead to consensus in favour of the implementation of a UN mission to Sudan and of measures that would end the violence and impunity in Darfur through referral to the International Criminal Court. This was reflected in Council Conclusions.
	AOB—Zimbabwe
	Over lunch the Foreign Secretary raised the 31 March Zimbabwean elections and the need for a fair but firm EU assessment. He highlighted that the UK remained concerned about the prospects for free and fair elections. Constituency boundaries had been redrawn in favour of Zanu PF, the voters' roll was a mess, newspapers had been shut down and foreign journalists prevented from working, and intimidation against the opposition continued. The elections should not be seen in isolation, but in the context of the political climate that had prevailed since the 2002 presidential elections. The changes that the Government had made in the last 30 days could not make up for the brutality and lack of respect for human rights and the rule of law over the past three years. The Foreign Secretary offered to write to Partners setting out the issues further.

Ministerial Visits

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the purpose was of his official visit to Lahore and Gujarat in February.

Jack Straw: Whenever possible and appropriate, I try on trips abroad of any length to visit areas beyond the capital cities concerned, as well as the capitals themselves. Thus in early 2004 I visited Peshawar as well as Islamabad, Pakistan, and Bangalore as well as New Delhi, India.
	In respect of my visit to Pakistan in February 2005, the proposal for a visit to Lahore came initially from the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Khurshid Kasuri. Lahore is his home. It is the second largest city in Pakistan, and a major centre for the media and commerce, as well as being the capital of Punjab province. Mr. Kasuri arranged for me to meet a wide cross-section of the business and political leaders of the province. In addition, I gave the keynote speech of my visit to Pakistan there, entitled: 'Pakistan and the United Kingdom: a modern partnership for engagement and understanding'.
	I also expressed an interest in visiting one of the major centres to which many of the large UK population of people of Pakistani heritage trace their roots. My original idea was to visit Mirpur, in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. However, I decided not to do so for foreign policy reasons. I then sought suggestions from a number of people of Pakistani origin in the UK, in my Blackburn constituency and elsewhere. Two suggestions were made to me—Jhelum or Gujarat in Punjab province. I decided, following advice from officials, to visit the latter as it was easy to slot into my programme and because it is the home city of the Chief Minister of Punjab province, Pervaiz Ellahi. During my visit to Gujarat I was also able to pursue the Government's consular and immigration objectives.
	To avoid confusion, I last visited the Indian state of Gujarat (Ahmedabad, the state capital) in September 2000.

Nepal

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment has been made of Nepal's ability to combat Maoist insurgents following the suspension of non-lethal military aid by the UK and India.

Douglas Alexander: India's assistance is more immediately critical than the UK's as they provide lethal hardware. The UK's support has been non-lethal and focussed on improving general professionalism and intelligence capabilities. However, given the topography of Nepal and the capabilities of the security forces and the Maoists, it does not appear that either side can win the conflict militarily. A negotiated political settlement involving all the constitutional forces offers the best way to resolve the conflict in Nepal and to create a stable democracy with good governance and respect for human rights. We assess that by taking power the King has undermined democracy, increased the risk of instability and that this is likely to lead to intensified conflict. The UK's military support has been predicated on multi-party democracy and the preservation of democratic freedoms. We are considering with international partners what our longer term policy should be in the new political context.

Venezuela

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the Venezuelan Government's policies on (a) land reform and (b) foreign-owned land.

Douglas Alexander: We monitor political and economic developments in Venezuela closely, including on land reform. We have consistently underlined to the Venezuelan Government the importance of ensuring that land reform policies are transparent and consistent with Venezuela's domestic and international legal commitments. The Venezuelan Government has informed us that there is no distinction in their land reform policy between foreign-owned land and that owned by Venezuelans.

Business Fraud

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Solicitor-General when she next expects to meet representatives of small business organisations to discuss Government measures to tackle fraudulent schemes aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises.

Harriet Harman: I met with representatives of the Federation of Small Businesses and representatives of the CPS and SFO in March 2004. If the Federation would find another meeting helpful I would be willing to consider this.

Election Participation

Jim Cunningham: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what recent representations have been received by the commission on increasing participation in elections among young women.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has not received any recent representations on increasing participation in elections among young women. It has, however, commissioned and published research in this area—"Gender and political participation"; conducted four educational workshops specifically for young women; and its New Initiatives Fund has supported five projects specifically aimed at raising young women's participation in politics. The commission also has a programme of community outreach to increase electoral participation among young people in general, and runs two annual student campaigns in partnership with the National Union of Students.

Special Educational Needs

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on Government policy on children with special educational needs.

Margaret Hodge: The Government's policy on special educational needs is set out in its SEN Strategy,
	"Removing Barriers to Achievement",
	published in February 2004.

Education Business Links

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what advice she has given to (a) local learning and skills councils and (b) those in charge of single regeneration budgets on what funding should be made available for education business links; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Twigg: The Department does not advise local LSCs on spending priorities. This is a matter for the learning and skills council itself. Mark Haysom, the LSC's chief executive, will write to my hon. Friend on this point, and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.
	The Single Regeneration Budget was subsumed into Regional Development Agency funding in April 2002. Remaining SRB funding is on a commitments-only basis. However, RDAs support education and skills objectives, including education business links. Guidance to RDAs about producing their Corporate Plans for 2005–08 asks them to consider how they can promote
	"employers' engagement with schools and colleges in developing learners' vocational and employability skills, as well as their enterprise capability in line with the Enterprise Education strategy".

School Funding

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much each (a) primary school and (b) secondary school in (i) North East Lincolnshire and (ii) North Lincolnshire has received from the Government in each year since the introduction of direct payments.

Stephen Twigg: In 2000–01, the first year of the School Standards Grant, North East Lincolnshire received £1,046,000, and North Lincolnshire £1,027,000. Figures on the primary/secondary split for 2000–01 are not held centrally. The amount of School Standards Grant (SSG) that has been received by North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire since 2001–02 is as follows:
	
		School Standards Grant
		
			 £ 
			  Primary schools Secondary schools 
		
		
			 2001–02   
			 North East Lincolnshire 1,301,500 852,000 
			 North Lincolnshire 1,253,500 932,000 
			
			 2002–03   
			 North East Lincolnshire 1,299,500 876,100 
			 North Lincolnshire 1,263,500 958,400 
			
			 2003–2004   
			 North East Lincolnshire 1,589,000 1,095,000 
			 North Lincolnshire 1,545,000 1,200,000 
			
			 2004–2005   
			 North East Lincolnshire 1,664,047 1,170,603 
			 North Lincolnshire 1,641,481 1,315,386 
		
	
	Grant was allocated to each school according to the following rates in each year:
	
		2000–01
		
			 Number of pupils Rate of grant (£) 
		
		
			 Primary  
			 0–100 3,000 
			 100.5–200.5 6,000 
			 201 + (27) 9,000 
			   
			 Secondary  
			 0–600 30,000 
			 600.5–1,200.5 40,000 
			 1,201 + 50,000 
		
	
	(27) The same rate was given in respect of each middle deemed primary school which did not have a year 8 or 9.
	
		2001–02
		
			 Number of pupils Rate of grant (£) 
		
		
			 Primary  
			 0–100 7,000 
			 100.5–200 13,500 
			 200.5–400 24,000 
			 400.5–600 30,000 
			 600.5 + 48,000 
			   
			 Secondary  
			 0–600 58,000 
			 600.5–1,200 70,000 
			 1,200.5 + 82,000 
		
	
	
		2002–03
		
			 Number of pupils Rate of grant (£) 
		
		
			 Primary  
			 0–100 7,200 
			 100.5–200 13,900 
			 200.5–400 24,700 
			 400.5–600 30,900 
			 600.5 + 49,400 
			 Secondary  
			 0–600 59,600 
			 600.5–1,200 72,000 
			 1,200.5 + 84,300 
		
	
	
		2003–04
		
			 Number of pupils Rate of grant (£) 
		
		
			 Primary  
			 0–100 9,000 
			 100.5–200 18,000 
			 200.5–400 30,000 
			 400.5–600 40,000 
			 600.5 800 60,000 
			 800.5 + 75,000 
			   
			 Secondary  
			 0–600 75,000 
			 600.5–1,200 90,000 
			 1,200.5–1,800 105,000 
			 1,800.5–2,400 120,000 
			 2,400.5 + 135,000 
		
	
	
		2004–05
		
			 Number of pupils Rate of grant (£) 
		
		
			 Primary  
			 0–100 10,000 
			 100.5–200 20,000 
			 200.5–400 30,000 
			 400.5–600 45,000 
			 600.5 800 60,000 
			 800.5 + 75,000 
			   
			 Secondary  
			 0–600 80,000 
			 600.5–1,200 96,000 
			 1,200.5–1,800 112,000 
			 1,800.5–2,400 128,000 
			 2,400.5 + 144,000 
		
	
	For 2004–05 the grant was calculated on the basis that each school receives the greater of either (a) an increase of 4 per cent. per pupil on its 2003–04 grant or (b) the level of its 2004–05 SSG band.
	Information on the amount of School Standards Grant received for each school in 2000–01 to 2002–03 is not held centrally, as the grant formed part of the schools Budget share in those years and was not reported separately by local authorities. A table showing the School Standards Grant paid to each primary and secondary school in North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire in 2003–04 and 2004–05 has been placed in the Library.

School Meals

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to regulate the standards of meals served in schools; and if she will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: Regulations introduced in 2001 set nutritional standards for school lunches in all local education authority maintained schools in England. It is the responsibility of local education authorities or, where the budget for school meals is delegated to them, a school's governing body to ensure that these standards are met. We are currently working to strengthen the standards to reduce pupils' sugar, salt and fat intakes and increase fruit and vegetable consumption.
	The Government's White Paper—"Choosing Health: Making healthier choices easier" set out the commitment that from September 2005 Ofsted will, through its separate programme of subject and thematic reviews, report on the contribution that every school makes to the five outcomes for children underpinning the Every Child Matters: Change for Children programme. As part of their review, Ofsted will look at healthy eating in schools, including school meals and other food and drink available on school premises.

School Meals

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance her Department has produced regarding nutritional standards for school meals.

Derek Twigg: The Department published three guidance documents in 2001 to coincide with the introduction of statutory nutritional standards. These are
	"Healthy School Lunches for Students in Secondary Schools", "Healthy School Lunches for Pupils in Primary Schools", and "Healthy School Lunches for Pupils in Nursery Schools/Units",
	and are available at www.dfes.gov.uk/schoollunches. In addition to covering the statutory nutritional standards, the guidance covers healthy eating, good catering practice, ideas for improving service and monitoring nutritional standards.

School Sports (Crosby)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the effects on schools of changes since 1997 on the level of investment in school sports in Crosby.

Derek Twigg: I refer my hon. Friend to the response given by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools on 22 March 2004, Official Report, column. 630W.

University Admissions

Brian Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of school leavers entered higher education in (a) 1997 and (b) 2004, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

Kim Howells: The latest available figures on participation by constituency were published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in January in "Young Participation in England", which is available from their website at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05 03/. Participation rates for constituencies based on this work, showing figures for each year between 1997 and 2000, are given on the supporting POLAR website (www.hefce.ac.uk/polar).

Woodcraft Folk

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will publish the criteria by which the decision was taken to end grant aid to the Woodcraft Folk.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 9 March 2005
	The criteria by which all decisions on the 160 applications for funding under the National Voluntary Youth Organisation (NVYO) grant scheme were made were explicit in both the application forms and guidance notes, to assist organisations through the application process.
	The guidance notes clearly stated that applications should make a strong contribution to the achievement of the outcomes for young people set out in "Every Child Matters".
	The Department looked for bids that: (this was in paragraph 13.2 of the guidance).
	were clearly focused on the outcomes identified in the guidance
	were for activities in line with those identified in the grant criteria
	identified clear and robust outcome indicators that were relevant to the outcomes the bid proposed to deliver
	clearly explained the national significance of the activity being proposed
	were realistic and deliverable.

Defence Employment (Scotland)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people worked for the Disposal Services Agency (a) in 2003–04 and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available; how many were employed in Scotland in each case; and what the personnel costs of the agency (i) were in 2003–04 and (ii) are expected to be in 2004–05.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the Disposal Service Agency's (DSA) Annual Report and Accounts 2003–04 that was laid before the House on 15 July 2004; less than five DSA staff members were employed in Scotland during this year. For the current Financial Year, 2004–05, the personnel costs for the agency are forecast to be in the region of £3 million. The latest personnel figures, as at March 2005, are 120 employed by the agency, of which again less than five are employed in Scotland. The increase in staff numbers this year resulted from the pre-merger process of the DSA with part of the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) following an "End-to-End Business Process Review of the disposal process within the MOD". The additional staff will not be funded by the agency until 1 April 2005, when it transfers ownership to the DLO.

Nuclear Test Veterans

Betty Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether a health study has been carried out by the Government since 1975 on veterans of the British Nuclear Test Programme.

Ivor Caplin: holding answer 22 March 2005
	The National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB)—as part of their continuing studies concerning nuclear test veterans—has carried out a health study into cancer incidence. The latest of their Reports—NRPB Report W-27 entitled "Mortality and Cancer Incidence 1952–1998 in UK Participants in the UK Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Tests and Experimental Programmes" (2003)—concluded that overall levels of mortality and cancer incidence in UK nuclear weapons test participants have continued to be similar to those in a matched control group, and overall mortality to be lower than expected from national rates.

CSA

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of Child Support Agency cases are within each of the three new colour code bands.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency, Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. John Mann, dated 24 March 2005
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of Child Support Agency cases are within each of the three new colour code bands.
	The clerical cases team at our office at Nottingham Chalfont Drive use a colour code system in order to prioritise their workloads. This is a local initiative, which is intended to streamline the progression of cases. The current figures are as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 216 red cases 22 
			 297 amber cases 31 
			 457 green cases 47 
		
	
	There are no plans to roll this process out nationally.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his oral statement of 23 February 2005, Official Report, column 628, on the Financial Assistance Scheme, how many of the pension schemes to be covered by the Financial Assistance Scheme provided some indexation of post-retirement benefits to scheme members.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 7 March 2005
	The recent data collection exercise for the Financial Assistance Scheme did not request details of indexation within schemes therefore the specific information requested is not available.
	There was no statutory requirement for schemes to index pensions before April 1997 (except in respect of some rights in contracted out schemes), although some schemes did so.
	As most schemes eligible for the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) will have started to wind up after April 1997 they are likely to have some members with a small proportion of rights subject to statutory indexation. On the other hand, as the Minister of State for Pensions made clear in his statement of 22 February 2005, Official Report, column 18WS, the FAS will initially apply to older workers within three years of scheme pension age. For those older workers it is likely that the majority of their rights will have accrued before April 1997, when the statutory indexation requirement referred to came in.

Arthritis

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce an NHS National Service Framework for (a) inflammatory arthritis, (b) osteoarthritis and (c) psoriatic arthritis.

Stephen Ladyman: In recognition of the need for a greater focus on the needs of the 17 million people with long-term conditions, including arthritis, the Government has already published this year:
	"Supporting People with Long Term Conditions" (LTCs)
	"Self Care a Real Choice"
	"Liberating the talents of nurses who care for people with LTCs"—describing the new clinical function of community matrons.
	The national service framework for people with LTCs.
	As part of this work on LTCs, it is intended to publish best practice guidance on musculoskeletal conditions, which include inflammatory arthritis, osteoarthritis and; psoriatic arthritis, later this year. The work is being developed with a wide range of stakeholders including the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance.

Continuing Care

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are receiving NHS continuing care in each strategic health authority in England.

Stephen Ladyman: The most recent available data is for March 2004. The reported number of people in each strategic health authority (SHA) in England receiving national health service continuing care at that time is shown in the table.
	
		People receiving continuing care: March 2004
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 England (estimated)(42) 19,984 
			 By SHA:  
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 435 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 830 
			 Essex 698 
			 North West London 1,468 
			 North Central London 320 
			 North East London 733 
			 South East London 580 
			 South West London 433 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 1,081 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 1,374 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 705 
			 West Yorkshire 688 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 376 
			 Greater Manchester 984 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 1,074 
			 Thames Valley 632 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 530 
			 Kent and Medway 770 
			 Surrey and Sussex 719 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 741 
			 South West Peninsula 516 
			 Somerset and Dorset 241 
			 South Yorkshire 192 
			 Trent 928 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 215 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 663 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 1,107 
			 Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire 690 
		
	
	(42) The estimated England figure does not equal the sum of the 28 SHAs listed in the table. This is because the following organisations did not return data in 2003–04:
	5LC Westminster Primary Care Trust (PCT)
	5A2 Norwich PCT.
	5KR North and East Cornwall PCT.
	Notes:
	The figures include people receiving NHS fully funded physical and mental health care over an extended period of time, as the result of disability, accident or illness. This can be in a NHS hospital, care home or peoples' own homes.
	The figures exclude hospital admissions, people receiving intermediate care, NHS funded nursing care in a care home or any package of care jointly funded with social services.

Drug Users

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of problematic drug users are in treatment; and how many were in treatment on average in each of the last five years.

Melanie Johnson: The percentage of problematic drug users that are in treatment, in England in 2003–04, is estimated to be around 45 per cent. 1
	The number of people in treatment for drug misuse during the year in England is shown in the table.
	1 This estimate is based upon:
	The estimated figure of around 281,000 problematic drug users in England and Wales (Godfrey C, Eaton G, McDougall C & Culyer A (2002). "The Economic and Social Costs of Class A Drug Use in England and Wales, 2000. Home Office Research Study 249.")
	The assumption that problematic drug use levels in the population are the same in England and Wales Resident population estimates for England, 49.9 million, and Wales, 2.9 million, for 2003.
	The 126,000 figure and methodology for numbers in treatment in England in 2003–04 "Key statistics on drug misusers in treatment, England 20O3–04, available at http://www.nta.nhs.uk.
	The assumption that all people in treatment are problematic drug users.
	
		
			  Number of people in treatment 
		
		
			 1999–2000 Not available 
			 2000–01 118,500 
			 2001–02 (43)128,200 
			 2002–03 (43)140,900 
			 2003–04 (44)154,000 
		
	
	(43) Provisional data.
	(44) This figure is used to allow for a more accurate comparison with previous years. As explained in: "Bridging exercise comparing drug misuse treatment data 2002–03 and 2003–04", available at http://www.nta.nhs.uk, the method of measuring contact with drug treatment services has been changed and the definition tightened since data was collected in 2002–03. Based on the new methodology introduced in 2003–04, the total number of people actually recorded as being in contact with structured drug treatment in 2003–04 was 125,913. This figure is the total number of individuals whose treatment falls within the definition of structured drug treatment as defined by NTA's Models of Care as "treatment following assessment and delivered according to a care plan, with clear goals, which is regularly reviewed with the client." This figure is used to produce the percentage data.

Great Ormond Street Hospital

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations have been cancelled at the Great Ormond Street hospital in the 2004–05 financial year.

Stephen Ladyman: Published data for cancelled operations is available for 2004 to December 2004 (the latest available data). Great Ormond Street hospital has had 74 last-minute cancellations for non-clinical reasons.
	Based on data from the previous year, we can estimate that 9,611 inpatient operations were performed without cancellation during the same period.

Health Statistics (Shrewsbury and Atcham)

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) nursing and (b) residential homes for the elderly there were in Shrewsbury and Atcham in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: Data is not available for the area requested. Information on the number of care homes for people aged 65 or over and for all adults aged 18 and over in Shropshire at 31 March for the years 1997 to 2001 is shown in the table.
	I understand from the Chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that figures for later years were collected by the National Care Standards Commission, and now CSCI, but comparable details are not available.
	
		Number of residential and nursing homes in Shropshire(45), 1997 to 2001
		
			  Residential(46) Nursing2,3 
			 At 31 March 65 and over Total 65 and over Total Total 
		
		
			 1997 100 210 n/a n/a n/a 
			 1998 130 240 n/a 60 420 
			 1999 100 200 n/a 60 350 
			 2000 100 200 n/a 60 360 
			 2001 80 190 n/a 50 320 
		
	
	n/a = Data not available.
	(45) Nursing care relates to Shropshire health authority. Residential care relates to Shropshire council with social services responsibilities. For 1999 onwards, residential data combines Shropshire county council and Telford and Wrekin unitary authority.
	(46) Dual registered homes are excluded from residential care, but are included under nursing care.
	(47) Nursing home figures include places in general nursing homes, mental nursing homes, private hospitals and clinics.
	Note:
	Figures may not sum due to rounding.

Mental Health

Parmjit Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mental health beds have been available in Leicester, South in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: The average daily numbers of available beds by sector for the years 1997 to 2004 are shown in the table.
	
		
			  National health service trust Total General and acute Acute Geriatric Mental illness Learning disability Maternity 
		
		
			 1997–98 Leicestershire Mental Health Service NHS Trust 515 — — — 515 — — 
			  Fosse Health, Leics. Community NHS Trust 570 408 171 237 48 114 — 
			 1998–99 Leicestershire Mental Health Service NHS Trust 516 — — — 516 — — 
			 1999–2000 Leicestershire and Rutland Healthcare NHS Trust(48) 1,087 407 171 237 565 114 — 
			 2000–01 Leicestershire and Rutland Healthcare NHS Trust(48) 1,421 401 240 161 765 255 — 
			 2001–02 Leicestershire and Rutland Healthcare NHS Trust(48) 921 — — — 662 259 — 
			 2002–03 Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust 871 — — — 612 259 — 
			 2003–04 Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust 887 — — — 628 258 — 
		
	
	(48) Leicestershire Mental Health Service NHS Trust and Fosse Health, Leics. Community NHS Trust were dissolved in 1999. Leicestershire and Rutland Healthcare NHS Trust became Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust in 2002.
	Source:
	Department of Health form KH03.

Mental Health

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the change in the number of mental health patients presenting at accident and emergency departments over the last eight years; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Department has not made a formal assessment of changes in the number of patients attending accident and emergency departments with mental health problems. However, we have encouraged local services to make improvements in the support available for people in mental health crises and we published guidance for A and E staff that provides practical support to improve the care of patients with mental ill health who access emergency care services. The guidance is available on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publicat ions/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPoli cyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT ID=408141 5&chk=PZrfPQ
	In addition, the Department provided incentive money in the current financial year for trusts that made progress to integrate elements of their crisis services. 80 per cent. of trusts were awarded the one-off payment of £200,000 following an assessment of their progress and performance by strategic health authorities.

Mental Health

Paul Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff were employed by the Leeds Community and Mental Health Trust and its successor trust in each year since 1992, broken down by staff group.

Melanie Johnson: The information is not available in the format requested.
	A new system of occupation coding for national health service non-medical staff was introduced in 1995. Data prior to 1995 is not directly comparable with later years.
	
		NHS hospital, public health medicine and community health services (HCHS) medical and non-medical staff, in the Leeds Community and Mental Health Service Teaching NHS Trust (RGD) by main staff group as at 30 September each year
		
			 Number (headcount) 
			  1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 
		
		
			 All Staff 3,823 4,058 3,849 3,727 3,885 
			 Of which:  
			 All medical and dental staff 161 209 174 165 220 
			 Total non-medical staff (HCHS only) 3,662 3,849 3,675 3,562 3,665 
			   
			 Professionally qualified clinical staff total 1,651 1,724 1,755 1,758 1,802 
			 Qualified nursing 1,334 1,378 1,400 1,367 1,404 
			 Qualified ST&T 317 346 355 391 398 
			   
			 Support to clinical staff total 1,301 1,369 1,137 1,070 1,150 
			 Support to doctors and nurses 1,227 1,294 1,065 1,000 1,086 
			 Support to ST&T staff 74 70 68 66 61 
			 Support to ambulance staff 0 5 4 4 3 
			   
			 NHS infrastructure support 691 742 769 723 704 
			 Central functions 405 458 450 428 423 
			 Hotel, property and estates 208 201 238 227 210 
			 Senior managers and managers 78 83 81 68 71 
			   
			 Other/unknown staff total 19 14 14 11 9 
		
	
	
		Numbers (headcount)
		
			  2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 All Staff 4,048 4,396 2,369 2,455 2,724 
			 Of which:  
			 All medical and dental staff 218 219 209 156 181 
			 Total non-medical staff (HCHS only) 3,830 4,177 2,160 2,299 2,543 
			   
			 Professionally qualified clinical staff total 1,820 1,996 903 992 1,021 
			 Qualified nursing 1,412 1,516 718 813 820 
			 Qualified ST&T 408 480 185 179 201 
			   
			 Support to clinical staff total 1,265 1,319 696 819 1,010 
			 Support to doctors and nurses 1,197 1,238 677 804 996 
			 Support to ST&T staff 63 75 19 15 14 
			 Support to ambulance staff 5 6 0 0 0 
			   
			 NHS infrastructure support 736 857 561 488 512 
			 Central functions 444 520 262 256 296 
			 Hotel, property and estates 203 211 183 150 138 
			 Senior managers and managers 89 126 116 82 78 
			   
			 Other/unknown staff total 9 5 0 0 0 
		
	
	Note:
	The numbers of staff dropped from 2001 to 2002 due to services transferring out to various PCTs in the Leeds area.
	Source:
	Department of Health medical and dental workforce census
	Department of Health non-medical workforce census

Mobile Phones (Under-fives)

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the health effects of mobile phones on the under-fives.

Melanie Johnson: The Mobile Telecommunication and Health Research (MTHR) programme set up following the Stewart Report in 2000 is jointly funded by Government and industry under the aegis of an independent scientific management committee. One study in this programme is investigating the risk of early childhood cancer among the population residing near mobile phone base stations, although all the studies are relevant to populations of any age. A brief description of all the studies can be found on the MTHR website at www.mthr.org.
	The National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) continually monitors and evaluates research into potential health effects from mobile phone technologies on behalf of Government. The NRPB's independent Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation issued a comprehensive review entitled "Health Effects from Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields" (docs. of the NRPB, vol. 14, no. 2, 2003). This report noted that little had been published specifically on childhood exposures to radiofrequency. The World Health Organization has prioritised research recommendations for studies on children and electromagnetic fields including those from mobile phone technologies. Further information is available from the World Health Organisation website at: www.who.int/peh-emf/research/children/en/index4. html.

MRSA

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment the Government have made of whether relationship exists between MRSA and the privatisation of cleaning activities in NHS hospitals.

Melanie Johnson: Analysis carried out by the Department found that there was no statistically significant relationship between the contracting out of cleaning work and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) rates in national health service trusts.
	However, the impact of cost-cutting programmes during the 1980s and 1990s did lead to a reduction in the number of cleaning staff and expenditure on cleaning.
	The problem of MRSA has developed over some time. Between 1993 and 1997, the percentage of S aureus bacteraemias that were MRSA increased from four per cent. to 30 per cent.. It is now settling at just over 40 per cent. The latest data for MRSA bloodstream infections (April-September 2004) show a 6 per cent. drop on the corresponding period in 2003.
	Several initiatives are already improving hospital cleanliness and infection control. These are summarised in Towards cleaner hospitals and lower rates of infections.

Neo-natal Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average age is of neo-natal nurses; and what assessment he has made of the effect on neo-natal care of early retirements of such nurses over the next 10 years.

John Hutton: The information requested is not collected centrally. Neo-natal nurses are included within the paediatric nursing area of work. As at September 2004, the average age of paediatric nurses employed in the national health service was 37.
	In line with our policy of Shifting the Balance of Power, it is for primary care trusts, in partnership with strategic health authorities and other local stakeholders, to plan, develop and improve services for local people, including neo-natal services.

NHS Professionals

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether staff supplied by NHS Professionals to hospitals undergo the same (a) recruitment, (b) training and (c) occupational health checks that are required of private recruitment agencies; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when he expects NHS professionals to become self-financing; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  if he will list the NHS trusts which ceased to use NHS professionals in (a) 2003 and (b) 2004; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: holding answer 23 March 2005
	NHS professionals fully complies with the pre and post-employment checks for all those working in the national health service, the appropriate checks and minimum standards set out in the Department's code of practice for the supply of temporary staffing and NHS purchasing and supply agency delivery standards. A recent Department of Trade and Industry audit confirmed that NHS professionals fully met, and is some cases exceeded, the requirements of the Employments Agencies Act and the Conduct of Employment and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003.
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 23 March, regarding when NHS professionals is expected to become self-financing.
	Information relating to the NHS professionals service prior to the establishment of the special health authority in April 2004 is not held centrally. The Pennine care NHS trust disengaged with the NHS professionals nursing service in 2004, but it continues to use the full range of doctors' services.

Nottinghamshire Drug Action Team

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what qualifications are required of members of the clinically-led Direct Access Management Team for drug treatment established by Nottinghamshire Drug Action Team for the management of general practitioners; and what criteria his Department uses in reaching decisions on funding the clinical management of primary care.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 23 March 2005
	The qualifications required for any clinically-led service are specifically addressed in 'Models of Care', the national framework document for the treatment of adult drug misusers, which was published by the National Treatment Agency (NTA) in 2002. Models of Care (NTA, 2002) clearly states that
	A professional should only assess a drug or alcohol misuser or a particular need if they have the required level of competence to do so. Where medical intervention is required for substitute prescribing, an appropriately trained doctor must assess the substance misuser.
	All central funds have been placed into one budget, the drug pooled treatment budget (PTB). In addition to this, approximately 200 million of mainstream local expenditure is spent on drug treatment. Drug action teams (DATs) are responsible for assessing local need and then commissioning services accordingly, using the drug pooled treatment budget and other mainstream funds. There are no central funds or grants available for individual projects.
	Allocations to local DATs from the PTB are made on a formula basis that recognises key deprivation factors, ensuring the money goes to the areas most in need. Year-on-year increases in PTB funding will see the budgets of every drug action team increase by approximately 55 per cent. by 2008.

Occupational Code Definitions

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the reclassification of NHS occupational code definitions for managers at Watford general hospital; and if he will list other (a) hospitals and (b) NHS hospital trusts where the same reclassification has taken place.

Stephen Ladyman: The non-medical workforce census is an annual census, which collects all non-medical staff directly employed by the national health service as at 30 September each year. Data is collected at NHS trust and primary care trust level in England.
	The census includes the number of administrative managers and senior managers employed in the NHS. These and other staff are classified using a three-digit occupation code, using guidance contained in the occupation code manual.
	In order to provide accurate information, organisations periodically review the codes assigned to their staff. West Hertfordshire NHS Trust, which includes Watford general hospital, conducted reviews in 2001 and 2002. While the census can identify where year-on-year changes have been made, we cannot accurately identify all the changes that are due to reclassification rather than staff movements.

Patient Throughput

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how he measures patient throughput in hospitals; and what the level of patient throughput has been in each year since 1991, broken down as in Table 3.9.2 of the Department's response to the Health Select Committee's 2004 public expenditure questionnaire.

John Hutton: The data requested is shown in the table. Throughput is calculated as the number of finished consultant episodes divided by the number of available beds.
	
		Patient throughput: 199091 to 200304
		
			  All specialties (excluding day only) General and acute Acute Geriatric 
		
		
			 199091 28 36 46 10 
			 199192 30 39 49 12 
			 199293 32 41 50 13 
			 199394 34 43 53 15 
			 199495 36 44 53 15 
			 199596 38 47 56 17 
			 199697 40 48 57 18 
			 199798 42 51 60 18 
			 199899 43 52 61 19 
			 19992000 44 53 61 19 
			 200001 45 53 62 19 
			 200102 45 53 62 19 
			 200203 47 55 64 20 
			 200304 50 58 67 21 
		
	
	
		
			  Mental illness Learning disability Maternity Day only 
		
		
			 199091 4 2 60 n/a 
			 199192 4 3 64 n/a 
			 199293 5 3 67 n/a 
			 199394 5 3 72 n/a 
			 199495 6 4 79 n/a 
			 199596 6 4 81 n/a 
			 199697 6 6 82 n/a 
			 199798 6 7 72 n/a 
			 199899 6 7 79 n/a 
			 19992000 7 6 82 n/a 
			 200001 6 6 88 n/a 
			 200102 6 7 85 n/a 
			 200203 6 7 92 n/a 
			 200304 6 6 100 n/a

Procurement

Patrick Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his assessment is of the progress to date of the Procure 21 procurement process.

John Hutton: The national health service ProCure21 programme was set up by the Department to drive forward Government policy as set out in Achieving Excellence in Construction (1999). Through ProCure21, the NHS is delivering facilities:
	Through constructive partnering relationships between the public and private sectors.
	Within budget.
	Which are delivered on time.
	Which incorporate best design.
	Which achieve value for money.
	The programme was rolled out nationally in September 2003. Progress to date is shown in the table.
	
		ProCure21 schemes
		
			  Number Value 
		
		
			 Schemes registered 238 2.4 billion 
			 Schemes on site 49 475 million 
			 Schemes completed 26 90 million 
		
	
	The National Audit Office report, Improving Public Services through better construction, was published on 15 March 2005. Sir John Bourn concluded that there has been considerable improvement in completing projects to time and cost and that real savings were being delivered by those Departments which had adopted partnering and collaborative approaches to construction. NHS ProCure21 was highlighted as a model of best practice.

Renal Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many paediatric patients have received renal replacement therapy for kidney failure in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: Latest figures are from the UK Renal Survey for 2002, which shows there were 710 patients receiving renal replacement therapy for kidney failure from paediatric services in England. Comparable historical data is not available. However, the British Association for Paediatric Nephrology report that in the United Kingdom there were 508 patients under 15 years old in 1999, 516 in 2001 and 534 in 2002.

Renal Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients are waiting for a kidney transplant; and what estimate he has made of the number of patients who have died while waiting for a kidney transplant in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the tables.
	
		1: Patients currently(49) registered for a kidney transplant, United Kingdom
		
			 Status Kidney Kidney/pancreas Total 
		
		
			 Active 5,356 96 5,452 
			 Suspended 1,448 30 1,478 
			 Total 6,804 126 6,930 
		
	
	(49) As at 13 March 2005
	
		2: Patients dying while registered (active or suspended) for a kidney transplant in the UK, 2000 to 2004
		
			  Total 
		
		
			 2000 295 
			 2001 230 
			 2002 270 
			 2003 269 
			 2004 259 
		
	
	Note:
	These figures may change slightly (especially 2004) as new data is reported

Renal Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many kidney transplants have been carried out by the NHS in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: The number of kidney transplants carried out by the national health service in each year since 1997 is shown in the table.
	
		Kidney transplants in the UK, 19972004
		
			 Number 
			 Transplant type 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Deceased donor kidney 1,481 1,326 1,297 1,309 1,333 1,286 1,246 1,358 
			 Kidney with other organs(50) 33 39 43 38 52 64 51 84 
			 Living donor kidney 179 252 270 348 358 372 451 463 
			 Total 1,693 1,617 1,610 1,695 1,743 1,722 1,748 1,905 
		
	
	(50) Primarily with pancreas.

Residential Homes (Leicester, South)

Parmjit Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) nursing and (b) residential homes for the elderly there have been in Leicester, South in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: Data are not available for the area requested. Information on the number of care homes for people aged 65 or over and for all adults aged 18 and over in Leicestershire at 31 March for the years 1997 to 2001 is shown in the table.
	I understand from the chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that figures for later years were collected by the National Care Standards Commission, and now CSCI, but comparable details are not available.
	
		Number of residential and nursing homes in Leicestershire(51), 1997 to 2001
		
			  Residential(52) Nursing2,3  
			 At 31 March 65 and over Total 65 and over Total Total 
		
		
			 1997 270 430 n/a n/a n/a 
			 1998 220 390 n/a 70 670 
			 1999 190 340 n/a 70 610 
			 2000 190 350 n/a 60 600 
			 2001 190 370 n/a 60 620 
		
	
	n/a = data not available.
	(51) Nursing care relates to Leicestershire health authority; residential care relates to Leicester unitary authority and Leicestershire council with social services responsibilities; data from 1998 onwards combine Leicestershire county council and Leicester unitary authority.
	(52) Dual registered homes are excluded from residential care but are included under nursing care.
	(53) Nursing home figures include places in general nursing homes, mental nursing homes, private hospitals and clinics.
	Note:
	Figures may not sum due to rounding.

Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor drugs are approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence for use by children;
	(2)  what advice has been issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency about the use of selective seratonin reuptake inhibitors by children.

Rosie Winterton: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has not made any recommendations on the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in children.
	Based on the work of its expert working group on the safety of SSRIs, the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) issued advice on the use of SSRIs in the paediatric population in June, September and December 2003. That advice was that the balance of risks and benefits for the treatment of depressive illness in under 18s is judged to be unfavourable for paroxetine (Seroxat), venlafaxine (Efexor), sertraline (Lustral), citalopram (Cipramil), escitalopram (Cipralex) and mirtazapine (Zispin). It is not possible to assess the balance of risks and benefits for fluvoxamine (Faverin,) due to the absence of paediatric clinical trial data. Only fluoxetine (Prozac) has been shown in clinical trials to be effective in treating depressive illness in children and adolescents, although it is possible that, in common with the other SSRIs, it is associated with a small increased risk of self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Overall, the balance of risks and benefits for fluoxetine in the treatment of depressive illness in under 18s is judged to be favourable.

Strategic Health Authorities

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the future of strategic health authorities.

John Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to Creating a Patient-led NHS, Delivering the NHS Improvement Plan, a copy of which is available from the Library. Chapters three and five of this document include information on the future role of strategic health authorities.

Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of whether the public service agreement target to reduce inequalities in health outcomes by 10 per cent., as measured by infant mortality and life expectancy at birth will be met by 2010.

Melanie Johnson: Our most recent assessment shows that despite overall improvements in the health of the population, there is a continuing, if slight, widening of health gap on infant mortality and life expectancy. This assessment is based on data up to 2003, the date the national health inequalities strategy, the Programme for Action, was published. The first challenge set out in the strategy was to stop the health gap from widening further.
	We will be publishing by the summer a first report of progress against the national strategy and 2010 public service agreement target, in line with the commitment in the Programme for Action. This report summarises developments against the target and the main headline indicators and provides a baseline against which to measure future action.